Homes Built Before 1978 in Every Portland Neighborhood
About 61% of Portland's homes were built before 1978, the year lead based paint was banned. But that citywide number hides a huge range. This page breaks it down for 89 neighborhoods, from the streetcar era blocks of Laurelhurst and Alameda to the newest subdivisions in the West Hills, using U.S. Census data mapped to the City of Portland's official neighborhood boundaries.
25
neighborhoods where three quarters or more of homes were built before 1978
Laurelhurst
has the oldest housing in the city at 95% built before 1978
79%
of homes in Alameda date from before 1940, the highest share in Portland
Northwest Heights
has the newest housing at 5% built before 1978
Map: share of homes built before 1978 by neighborhood
Darker green means an older housing stock. Click any neighborhood for its numbers. Thin outlined slivers are areas claimed by two neighborhood associations.
Table: every neighborhood, ranked
Sort any column by clicking its heading, or filter by area of the city. The share built before 1970 is a floor that needs no estimating, and the share built before 1940 shows where lead paint and original wood siding are most likely.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 five year estimates, table B25034, Year Structure Built, by census tract, retrieved September 2026 via Census Reporter; tract boundaries from the Census Bureau TIGERweb service; Neighborhood Boundaries from PortlandMaps Open Data, City of Portland. Tract counts were allocated to neighborhoods in proportion to overlapping land area. "Built before 1978" counts all homes built before 1970 plus eight tenths of homes built between 1970 and 1979. Housing unit figures are rounded estimates and carry survey margins of error, which are wider for small neighborhoods. Neighborhoods under 150 estimated units are omitted. Download the data as CSV.
What the pattern shows
The oldest housing forms a band through inner Northeast and Southeast: Laurelhurst, Alameda, Irvington, Sabin, Grant Park, Rose City Park and Eastmoreland were largely built out before the Second World War, and in several of them two thirds or more of homes are from before 1940. These are the neighborhoods where original wood siding, single pane wood windows, knob and tube wiring and lead based paint are most likely to show up on the same house.
East Portland tells a different story. Parkrose Heights, Roseway, Madison South and Montavilla have high pre 1978 shares but very little from before 1940. This is postwar housing from the 1950s and 1960s, often with original hardboard or early composite siding that has reached the end of its service life, and 1960s aluminum windows. The lead paint rule still applies, and the moisture damage behind older siding is usually more advanced than owners expect.
At the other end, the Pearl District, South Portland, Northwest Heights and Pleasant Valley are mostly post 1990 construction where lead safe work practices are rarely triggered but where builder grade windows and early generation composite siding are now reaching replacement age.
What this means for a renovation
Any project that disturbs painted surfaces in a pre 1978 home falls under the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, which covers siding replacement, window replacement, dry rot repair, exterior painting and most interior work. The contractor must hold EPA Lead Safe certification, set up containment, follow lead safe work practices, clean and verify the area, and give you written documentation. In Oregon the contractor also needs a Lead Based Paint Renovation license from the CCB. Ask for both before work starts.
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Questions about this data
Why does 1978 matter?
Lead based paint was banned for residential use in the United States in 1978. Under the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, any contractor who disturbs painted surfaces in a home built before 1978 must hold EPA Lead Safe certification and follow containment, cleaning and documentation procedures. Oregon adds a state Lead Based Paint Renovation license requirement through the CCB.
How were neighborhood figures calculated when the Census does not report by neighborhood?
The Census Bureau reports Year Structure Built by census tract. Tract boundaries do not follow neighborhood boundaries, so each tract's housing counts were divided among the neighborhoods it overlaps in proportion to land area, using the City of Portland's official neighborhood boundary file. This is a standard method called areal interpolation. It is accurate for neighborhoods where housing is spread evenly and less precise where a tract mixes dense and empty land.
What about areas shared between two neighborhoods?
Portland has about 25 small areas that two neighborhood associations both claim, such as the strip between Alameda and Irvington. Those areas are counted in both neighborhoods' totals, because each association treats the area as its own. The map shows them as separate outlined pieces.
Why are some neighborhoods missing?
Neighborhoods with fewer than 150 estimated housing units, along with the unincorporated pockets of Multnomah County inside city limits, are left out because the estimates are too small to be reliable. Industrial and port areas fall into this group.
Does a home built before 1978 always contain lead paint?
No. The likelihood rises with age: roughly one in four homes built between 1960 and 1977, about seven in ten built between 1940 and 1959, and close to nine in ten built before 1940, according to HUD and EPA estimates. A lead paint test is the only way to know for certain.
Can I use this data?
Yes. It is derived from public Census Bureau and City of Portland data. You are welcome to cite it, embed the figures or link to this page, and a CSV download is provided under the table.
Own an older Portland home?
VResh Construction is EPA Lead Safe Certified and licensed in Oregon (CCB #241979). We handle siding, windows, roofing, dry rot repair and interior renovation on pre 1978 homes across every neighborhood on this map, with full RRP compliance and written documentation.